Deputy Commander Australian Fleet, Commodore Luke Charles-Jones, CSC, OAM, RAN, salutes after laying a memorial wreath on board MV Krait during the 75th anniversary memorial service of Operation JAYWICK at the Australian National Maritime Musuem, Sydney.

The Australian Defence Force has commemorated the 75th anniversary of Operation JAYWICK, with a wreath laying ceremony on board the MV Krait at the Australian National Maritime Museum.

Wreaths were laid on board Krait by the Commander of Special Operations, Major General Adam Findlay; the Chief of Staff of Navy Fleet Command, Commodore Luke Charles-Jones; Director of the Australian War Memorial, Dr Brendan Nelson; Australian National Maritime Museum Director, Kevin Sumption; and the President of the New South Wales Branch of the Australian Commando Association, Barry Grant.

Following the fall of Singapore in 1942, the joint Australian Navy and Army ‘Z Special Unit’ (commonly known as Z Force), mounted a daring raid on Japanese ships in Singapore Harbour in September 1943.

“Operation JAYWICK was an audacious raid that took the Japanese by surprise,” CDRE Charles-Jones said.

“Krait was used to transport the Z Force unit from Darwin to a location offshore from Singapore, from which Z Force members staged the operation to place mines on seven Japanese ships.

“Operation JAYWICK was an important milestone in the development of Australian special operations, and it is an honour to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the operation on board Krait, which has been painstakingly restored to her wartime configuration by the Australian National Maritime Museum,” said CDRE Charles-Jones.

The raid by Z Force, a unit comprised of 14 Navy and Army members, resulted in seven Japanese ships being sunk or significantly damaged.